New vision for park pushed at market site

Plan would include community center

April 20, 2006|By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Tribune staff reporter.

Long before the city shut down an indoor flea market in Logan Square for dozens of building code violations, parks advocate Mark Heller proposed that the area near it be redeveloped to increase green space for his park-deprived neighborhood.

On Wednesday, Heller came to the Chicago Park District board meeting and asked officials to back his idea for a 2.1-acre park and activity center, which would include a fieldhouse, community center and performing arts center. Part of the activity center would be built over the nearby Blue Line "L" tracks.

Heller wants park officials to work with the city to use Tax Increment Financing dollars to make his vision a reality.

"Make it a park," he said. "The community wants a park."

The blocklong Discount Mega Mall at 2500-14 N. Milwaukee Ave. has sat vacant since June, when it was shut down for 112 building, health and safety code violations, including a crumbling exterior facade and inoperable plumbing that led to raw sewage accumulating in the building, planning officials said. It once housed 150 vendors.

Logan Square is one of the three Chicago neighborhoods with the least park space, city officials said.

Yet while the community may eventually see some open space at the market site, other plans for the land are not close to Heller's vision.

City planning officials are awaiting redevelopment proposals for retail uses at the site that will include open space, said Connie Buscemi, a spokeswoman for the city's Planning and Development Department. The city also plans to acquire a CTA-owned parking lot across the street from the vacant market, as well as adjacent CTA land, to convert into green space, Ald. Rey Colon (35th) said.

"Everyone wants a park. But the No.1 request I get is for a grocery store, for a place to buy food," Colon said.

Heller's proposal hasn't caught steam because it lacks an organization campaigning to make it happen, the alderman said.

Elsewhere in Logan Square, the Park District is working on creating a park for skateboarders under the Kennedy Expressway bridge at Logan Boulevard. It also is revamping the 10-acre Palmer Square with a tot lot, walking trails and a soft-surface jogging trail.

And park officials have promised an additional $10 million in the coming years to Haas Park at Fullerton and Washtenaw Avenues. The district recently helped the tiny park double in size by buying the $2.6 million property next to it.

A park at the market site is not on the district's radar screen. "Our priority in Logan Square is Haas Park," Parks Supt. Tim Mitchell said. "We want to get that project up and finished."

But Phil Jones, a resident who worked to help secure funding for Haas Park, believes a 2.1-acre park at the former market site is a good idea.

"Do we really need more retail along Milwaukee?" Jones asked.

In other park news, board members approved the Art Institute's bid to make its suggested $12 fee a fixed charge for non-member adults.

Under the measure, which takes effect June 3, there will be no charge for children under 12 years old. The museum will be free every Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. in the summer and from 5 to 8 p.m. the rest of the year. It will also be free from 5 to 9 p.m. every Friday in summer, and every day from Feb. 1 through 21.